August 20, 2009

Boy finds meteorite while egg-collecting

by ssavage

A 6-year-old boy in Barnstable, England, says he found a small meteorite while collecting eggs from his family's hens.

The Daily Mail said Thursday that Josh Chapple noticed a shiny black item in his family's garden last week and with help from his mother Sarah and the Internet, he soon determined the item was a rare meteorite.

I saw it on the ground near our back door -- there were burn marks all over it, Chapple said of last Friday's discovery. I've never seen anything like it before. It was dark and shiny.

Josh's father Andrew told the Daily Mail the meteorite's discovery, which came in the wake of last week's Perseid meteor shower, has excited Josh and his brothers, Aiden and Kai.

Josh is so excited, it's quite incredible really and it's exciting to think how far the rock has traveled, Andrew Chapple said. I told them to take photos of where it had landed and watch out for aliens.